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Building with Wood

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Wood Decay and Repair

LEAKY BUILDINGS AND DECAYING WOOD - WHAT'S HAPPENING? The news across North America seems to frequently contain stories about serious moisture failures in wood-frame...

Durability, wood decay, Wood Durability, wood repair, wood rot

Environmental product declarations (EPDs) – Copy

EPD Link An Industry Average EPD for Canadian Pre-fabricated Wood I-Joists • View Resource A Regionalized Industry Average EPD for Canadian Softwood Lumber • View...

Treatment during engineered wood product manufacture

Some engineered wood panel products, such as plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) are able to be treated after manufacture with preservative solutions, whereas thin...

Durability

Throughout history, wherever wood has been available as a resource, it has found favour as a building material for its durability, strength, cost-competitiveness...

Environmental Issues

Safe Handling Using common sense and standard safety equipment (personal protection and wood-working machinery) applies when working with any building products. Gloves, dust...

Treated Wood

When you want to use wood that is not naturally decay resistant in a wet application (outdoors, for example) or where it may be at risk for insect attack, you need to specify...

Environmental product declarations (EPDs)

EPD Link An Industry Average EPD for Canadian Pre-fabricated Wood I-Joists [epdlink...

Wood Advantages

Wood is resistant to some of the chemicals destructive to steel and concrete. For example, wood is often the material of choice when exposed to: organic compounds, hot or...

Assessing and Restoration of Decay

Sometimes it happens – wood in service suffers from decay. How can you identify decayed wood and what are the recommended actions to take? First, be sure you actually have...

Choosing and Applying Exterior Wood Coatings

Choosing a coating depends on what appearance is desired and what level of maintenance would be tolerable. For many people, the basic choice is paint versus stain. The...

Factory Finishing

Select heartwood where possible to minimize nutrient content of wood surfaces and prevent nutrients migrating through the coating to support fungal growth on the surface....

Performance Factors

How long will an exterior wood coating last? Anywhere from a few months to 20 years or more, depending on the choice of product, how it was applied, and how severe the...

Finishing Quick Tips

For new wood, remember: The wood must be dry. Drying time depends on a few factors. Ideally the wood should be kiln-dried (stamped “S-DRY”, “KD” or “KDAT”, see...

Glossary

Acrylic A type of water-borne coating product containing acrylic polymers. Alkyd A type of polyester resin. Term often used to signify solvent-borne coatings, e.g., oil...

Canadian Preservation Industry

Canada has had a wood preservation industry for about 100 years. Canada is tied with the UK as the world’s second largest producer of treated wood (the USA is first...

Durability Research and Development

FPInnovations has been field testing the performance of treated wood products for years. Click one of these categories for performance data from our field tests....

Wood’s Durable Heritage

There’s no reason a wood structure can’t last virtually forever – or, at least hundreds of years, far longer than we may actually need the building. With a good...

Remedial Treatment

Since remedial treatment is intended to solve a known insect or decay problem, the first thing to do is investigate the extent of the problem and, if necessary, provide...

Surface Pre-treatment

Liquid application: Dip diffusion treatment of green (wet) lumber Dip-diffusion treatment involves immersion of freshly cut lumber, still wet from the tree, in a concentrated...

Depot Treatment

Since depot treatment is localized, it is critical that it be placed in the right location, which requires an understanding of how moisture may get into the structure. This...

Supplemental Treatment

Supplementary treatment may be added wherever on-site cutting or drilling of wood is unavoidable, or where it is suspected the original protection measures may be inadequate....

Fasteners

Fasteners, Connectors and Flashing for Wood Treated With Copper-Based Preservatives The presence of moisture is a precondition for corrosion of metals. Treated wood is...

Treatability

Treatability of Major North American Softwoods Some wood is easier to treat than others. The particular structure of the cells for a given piece of wood will determine how...

Resilience

Individuals in the design and construction community are increasingly choosing materials, design techniques and construction procedures that improve a structure’s ability...

Moisture and Wood

The durability of wood is often a function of water, but that doesn’t mean wood can never get wet. Quite the contrary, wood and water usually live happily together. Wood is...

Decay

Wood is biodegradable – that’s a characteristic we normally consider to be one of the benefits of choosing natural materials. Organisms exist that can break down wood...

Termites

Termites, sometimes called “white ants” are a social insect, more closely related to cockroaches than ants. They can be distinguished from ants by the absence of a narrow...

Controlling Termites

Fortunately for Canada, most of this country lies north of the limit for termites on the North American continent. However, because termites and people both prefer the warmer...

Applying Treatment

Holes drilled to apply depot, supplementary or remedial treatments should be on vertical surfaces or undersides, where possible, to avoid creating additional routes for...

Tall Wood Buildings

With advanced construction technologies and modern mass timber products such as glued-laminated timber, cross-laminated timber and structural composite lumber, building tall...

Mid-Rise Buildings

When it comes to wood construction, many people think of basic 2×4 framing, panels or flooring for single-family homes. However, advances in wood science and building...

Bridges

Timber bridges have a long history as vital components of the roadway, railway and logging road networks within Canada. Dependent on the availability of materials...

Tall Wood Buildings – Research

Tests Current research includes the World’s largest mass timber fire test – click here for updates on the test results currently being conducted https://firetests.cwc.ca/...

Mid-Rise Buildings – Research

Studies General “The Historical Development of the Building Size Limits in the National Building Code of Canada“, by Sereca for CWC (2015) (17 Mb) Structural &...

Green

Wood is the only major building material that grows naturally and is renewable. With growing pressure to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment, building...

Energy Efficiency

Of all the energy used in North America, it is estimated that 30 to 40 percent is consumed by buildings. In Canada, the majority of operational energy in residential...

Climate Change

Concerns about climate change are encouraging decarbonization of the building sector, including the use of construction materials responsible for fewer greenhouse gas (GHG)...

Life Cycle Assessment

Construction products and the building sector as a whole have significant impacts on the environment. Policy instruments and market forces are increasingly pushing...

Codes & Standards

BUILDING CODES & STANDARDS (THE REGULATORY SYSTEM) The construction industry is regulated through building codes which are informed by: Design standards that provide...

Pressure Treated Wood

Preservative-treated wood is typically pressure-treated, where the chemicals are driven a short distance into the wood using a special vessel that combines pressure and...

Fire Safety

The National Building Code of Canada (NBC) defines fire safety under Objective OS1: “an objective of this code is to limit the probability that as a result of the design or...

Flame Spread

Flame spread is primarily a surface burning characteristic of materials, and a flame-spread rating is a way to compare how rapid flame spreads on the surface of one material...

Fire Resistance

In the National Building Code of Canada (NBC) “fire-resistance rating” is defined in part as: “the time in minutes or hours that a material or assembly of materials...

Construction Sites

The vulnerability of any building in a fire situation is higher during the construction phase when compared to the susceptibility of the building after it has been completed...

Structural Design

A structure must be designed to resist all the loads expected to act on the structure during its service life. Under the effects of the expected applied loads, the structure...

Lumber properties

For many years, the design values of Canadian dimension lumber were determined by testing small clear samples. Although this approach had worked well in the past, there were...

Permanent Wood Foundations

A permanent wood foundation (PWF) is an engineered construction system that uses load-bearing exterior light-frame wood walls in a below-grade application. A PWF consists of...

Durability by design

“Durability by design” is the most important aspect of durable solutions. It starts with using dry wood, storing it appropriately to ensure it stays dry, and then...

Durability by nature

For outdoor applications of wood, we have a strong tradition here in North America of using our naturally durable species: Western red cedar, Eastern white cedar, yellow...

Durability by treatment

Treating Methods There are two basic methods of treating: with and without pressure. Non-pressure methods are the application of preservative by brushing, spraying or dipping...

Finishing Exterior Wood

The appearance of wood can be modified with the application of an architectural coating. Architectural coatings are surface coverings such as paints and stains applied...

Non-Pressure Treated Wood

Non-Pressure Treated Wood For most treated wood, preservatives are applied in special facilities using pressure. However, sometimes this isn’t possible, or the need for...

UBC Gateway

Province: British ColumbiaCity: VancouverProject Category: InstitutionalMajor Classification: A2 - Lecture hallsHeight: 5 storeysBuilding Area: 266,041 ft2 Description:...

Building Systems, Design Examples, Mass Timber, Publications, Wood Design

The Goldring Centre – University of Toronto Academic Tower

Province: OntarioCity: TorontoProject Category: InstitutionalMajor Classification: D - OfficesHeight: 14 StoreysBuilding Area: 176,549 ft2 Description: The University...

Design Examples, Engineering, Mass Timber, Publications, Wood Design

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Build Safe and Strong with Wood

WoodWorks Software® offers precision and efficiency, enabling professionals to design safe and high-quality structures that adhere to the latest Canadian building regulations.

Need Support?

The CWC Help Desk offers a number of resources on our Member’s Products to wood professionals and enthusiasts.

Webstore

Build Safe and Strong with Wood

WoodWorks Software® offers precision and efficiency, enabling professionals to design safe and high-quality structures that adhere to the latest Canadian building regulations.

Need Support?

The CWC Help Desk offers a number of resources on our Member’s Products to wood professionals and enthusiasts.

Webstore

Building with Wood

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WoodWorks Software® offers precision and efficiency, enabling
professionals to design safe and high-quality structures that adhere to the
latest Canadian building regulations.

WoodWorks Software® offers precision and efficiency, enabling
professionals to design safe and high-quality structures that adhere to the
latest Canadian building regulations.